Ireland, A Bourgeois Circus (Part I): The Housing Crisis
In this series of articles I intend to discuss Irish political issues, to educate my comrades from all over the world on Irish political issues, and to educate my Irish comrades on why we cannot continue handing power to these parties and why we must take the country into our own hands.
In this article I will be discussing the housing crisis which is the fault of the two main parties which have been governing Ireland since it’s independence, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Fianna Fáil is the party currently with the most seats in Dáil Éireann (lower house of parliament) as well as Seanad Éireann (upper house of parliament.)
Fianna Fáil can be best described as a conservative and Christian democratic party. It was founded in 1926 by Éamon de Valera, who later served as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland for three non-consecutive terms, as well as President of Ireland from 1959 to 1973.It was under the rule of a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach (Brian Cowen’s)Government that oversaw the bailout of Ireland’s banking system, which was done due to the collapse of the Irish housing market, a collapse that still impacts us to this day.
Fine Gael is similarly a conservative and Christian democratic party. It was founded by multiple people, most notably by William Thomas Cosgrave, the first Taoiseach of Ireland.
In Dublin City alone, there are, according to the Irish Times, 14,500 vacant houses and commercial buildings,2,126 mixed use properties and 6,641 residential properties. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there are, as of 2022, 10,321 homeless people in Ireland, predominantly in Dublin and Cork,including 1,400 families, which accounts for over 5,000 of theover10,000 homeless people in Ireland. This means, that the vacant residential and mixed use buildings in Dublin City alone is enough to house the homeless in Ireland, many of these buildings are new, however 23% of these building have been vacant for over four years.
Of course homelessness is not the only consequence of the housing crisis. Due to the ever increasing rental prices and housing prices, many young people in Ireland are forced to emigrate and many continue to live with their parents. According to Eurostat, in 2024, in the EU, 77% of 25 to 34 year old people, with permanent employment, lived with their parents, in Ireland this is much higher at 94.8%,the highest in Western Europe. This means often times it is more reasonable to move to a country where people have a better chance of finding affordable housing which can be seen as migration of Irish nationals to live abroad has increased from 27,600 in 2022 to 34,700 in 2024. I would also like to mention that the average property price in Ireland has continued to increase. According to the CSO, in November of 2023, the average property price was 325,000 Euro (in Ireland as a whole) and 440,000 Euro (in Dublin) to, in June of 2025, 371,000 Euro (Ireland) and 488,000 (in Dublin).
The final thing I would like to mention on this issue is the government’s over-reliance on the private sector to provide for the housing needs of Ireland. In an article by the Irish Times, in 2022, 73% of the social housing came from the private sector. Of the 7,433 social homes delivered in 2022, 54% were delivered by private developers and another 19% were bought from private developers. Their stance has not changed since as can be seen from this excerpt from an article from the Irish Examiner (2025):
“Taoiseach Michéal Martin has said the housing market is "overwhelmingly dependent" on government investment, adding that the private sector needs to be more involved to ensure the delivery of much-needed housing.”
This will not help to bring down housing prices as has been proven by the years of over reliance on the private sector to provide for the housing needs of Ireland.
It is clear from the data provided above that the government does not intend on solving the housing crisis as it is in the best interest of the ruling class to continue this crisis. The prices of housing and rent will continue to grow if nothing is done, and so will the profits of the foreign investors and property developers who have a monopoly on housing.
Finally, I would like to offer my opinion on the issue. Of course I fully hold the Irish Government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, two parties that work in the interests of no one but the ruling class and blatantly so, fully accountable for this crisis. I, as I am sure many if not all communists, believe that shelter should be a human right. This crisis which is entirely manufactured by the ruling class can never be solved under a capitalist system and we, the Irish people, as well as all peoples of the world must put an end to this system that creates needless suffering of millions of people.
In solidarity,
FurInform
